Another end of an era

[Stephen]

It is with heavy heart and frustration that, after nearly 20 years with the site in one form or another, I've eventually decided to no longer attend this site, at least on a regular basis.

There was a mass exodus at the beginning of last year when I considered not staying here, but I am the optimist and thought that a new injection of enthusiasm would spur the Canadian owners into action to bring the site up-to-date.....but I was wrong.

It is a shame that a site that was originally set up in good faith to help with the fishkeeping "hobby" was taken over (for various reasons at the time) by a "conglomerate" who wanted the action for advertising etc., has been left to deteriorate on the scale that TFF has.

Stephen has done his best to keep it running, but obviously the Canadians don't care.

I haven't been enjoying my membership recently, and certainly have lost my enthusiasm, although I still want to help keep fish alive if possible, just not here anymore.

Sadly and for the same reasons above, I too will not be visiting this forum as often in the near future.

I first joined this forum 6 years ago and it was a great & friendly place to visit, the members were welcoming & helpful.
The forum was independent, busy and the members were full of enthusiasm.
A few years ago the forum was sold.

It has been an uphill struggle since the forum was sold a few years ago.
There has been no support from the current owners whatsoever.
They promised us everything but delivered nothing.
Many of the good members left in the mass exodus at the beginning of last year due to the frustrations and lack of support.

I too was hopeful and optimistic that things would improve, but sadly not.
I took on the role as 'admin' and have spent much of my time trying to fix things and monitor/vet all the potential new members.
Every new member is manually activated by myself as the automatic verification system has not worked for a very long time.
Scammers have been lining up to wreak havoc and I have banned them before they can actually join.

I have requested that the forum software is updated and that I have ftp access but without a reply. The software version is over 4 years old and out of date.
FTP access would enable me to update the software, it would take less than 5 minutes, with the view that the updates would fix the existing errors.
I do run maintenance routines in an attempt to fix errors, usually it works but sometimes not.
Due to the time spent doing maintenance etc.. on this forum I too haven't been enjoying my membership recently, and have also lost my enthusiasm.
I love helping others and sharing my experiences and knowledge. I also loved creating stocking suggestions for members, I still do.

So I will gradually be giving up the buckets, sticky tape and glue.
I have a little cleaning up to do first though so that the forum in it's current condition remains working.
I will still pop in from time to time (as will plankton) just to see how the forum is going (if it's still going).
We are both eternal optimists and are both passionate about fishkeeping and helping others.

Stephen

[TropicalFishForums]

[thesorcerous]

I’m very new here, and that’s sad to hear. I used to be a very active member of another forum (Fishgeeks.com, which is now defunct) the last time I was in the hobby, and was hoping to find somewhere similar. Do you guys post anywhere else?


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[Gingerlove05]

Its such a shame
It used to be a busy happy little forum, but lack of care by the owners have destroyed a great community and a huge amount of information.
You’ve done a great job Stephen and it really has been an uphill battle since the owners popped up offering support delivering and nothing but empty promises before disappearing again.
I’ll look forward to catching you on the darkside 

[Phil R]

I’m very new here, and that’s sad to hear. I used to be a very active member of another forum (Fishgeeks.com, which is now defunct) the last time I was in the hobby, and was hoping to find somewhere similar. Do you guys post anywhere else?


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Most are going here.
http://www.aquariumforums.co.uk

[Fishtales]

This is incredibly sad news. To see a forum deteriorate to the point of losing a lot of its most knowledgeable members.

I wish you all the best Stephen.

[Stephen]

Thank you.